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King Solomon’s Mines: A 20th Century Myth

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Abstract

Over the last twenty years, there has been a discernable increase in the number of scholars who have focused their research on metal production, working and use in antiquity, a field of study which has come to be known as ARCHAEOMETALLURGY. Materials scientists and conservators have worked primarily in the laboratory while archaeologists have conducted fieldwork geared to the study of metal technology in a cultural context with laboratory analysis as one portion of the interpretive program.

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Notes and References

  1. For more information on Glueck’s work at Tell el-Kheleifeh, see N. Glueck, “The Topography and History of Ezion-geber and Elath,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 72 (1938), pp. 2–13; and, “The Excavations of Solomon’s Seaport: Ezion-Geber,” Annual Report Smithsonian Institution, 1941, pp. 453–478.

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  2. For reconstructed drawings of the building, see G. D. Pratico, “A Reappraisal of the Site Archaeologist Nelson Glueck Identified as King Solomon’s Red Sea Port,” Biblical Archaeology Review, XII/5 (1986), pp. 24–35. Pratico is about to publish the final report on Glueck’s excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh, based upon records left by Glueck in the Harvard Semitic Museum, the Smithsonian Institution and the Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman. Virtually nothing remains of the site today.

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  3. N. Glueck, Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy), 1959, p. 157.

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  4. N. Glueck, Illustrated London News, 39, July 1938, p. 212.

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  5. N. Glueck, “The Excavations of Solomon’s Seaport: Ezion-geber, Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, p. 458.

  6. ibid, p. 459.

  7. ibid, p. 465.

  8. ibid., p. 464.

  9. American Journal of Archaeology, 47 (1943), p. 231.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pennsylvania, USA

    James D. Muhly

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  1. James D. Muhly
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Editor’s Note: The following is an adaption of “Solomon, the Copper King,” an article which originally appeared during 1987 in the magazine Expedition.

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Muhly, J.D. King Solomon’s Mines: A 20th Century Myth. JOM 40, 36–37 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03257982

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03257982

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